I have always loved the readings of the Liturgy in the last couple weeks of November and the end of the liturgical year, particularly the book of Revelation. Just yesterday we began proclaiming the prophetic messages to the seven Churches. Those who are victorious I will feed from the tree of life!  We too want to stand one day robed in white, singing the song of the Lamb. In today's Strength for the Week, Pope Francis offers us some personal spiritual guidance on our journey. In the digital ma...

Way back in 1959, St. Paul Editions, as our publishing house was then called, compiled and printed a marvelous book: the Queen of Apostles Manual of Prayer. It wasn’t just another prayer book—at that time there were hundreds of those on the market—but literally a manual, a how-to, of conversation with God, learned by…praying. It was reprinted and revised more than once. By the time it received a new title, Queen of Apostles Prayer Book, it contained over 400 prayers and novenas. At least tha...

"Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads" (Revelation 14:1).The one hundred forty-four thousand standing on Mount Zion... A new song only they could sing... The wedding of the Lamb. The heavenly Jerusalem...To be honest, these are not my "everyday" thoughts. Yet this is who I am, who we are. Politics, problems, and plans seem more real, more in the moment, mo...

As a sister, I find that when it comes to sharing the Gospel with family and friends, I often feel like I’m either a lightning rod for religious discussions (friendly or hostile in tone) or I am ignored as irrelevant to everyday life. I suspect that any practicing Catholic whose family members “aren’t religious” goes through this as well. How do we share the joy of the unconditional love of God with all of these expectations swirling around us? There are two fundamental choices or attitudes ...

No matter what your background, evangelizing friends and family is not an easy task. When engaging with loved ones who have fallen away from the Church, it is easy for us to focus on what they’re doing wrong or on what we’re doing wrong when we try to witness to them. But the more important thing is to concentrate on God’s desire for all of us to become saints. When we allow God to purify our inconsistencies that keep us from clearly communicating Jesus to our loved ones, then we will be able...

A friend just called me to ask for prayers for a sister who is having problems with her teenage son. We talked about many things including the challenge of being there as family members struggle through issues and challenges in today’s society.  The fabric of our relationships stretch and strain to absorb so many challenges today—big and small! The good news of the Gospel is that being born into a family is being born into a community.Particularly as Catholics we have an inescapable connection...

Zélie Martin sat upright in the chair of the doctor’s office on that never-to-be-forgotten day in October 1876. She waited patiently for his verdict. Without raising his eyes, the doctor cleared his throat and began writing out a prescription. He said, “Madame, what you have is a tumor.”“Please be direct with me, doctor. What is the use of the prescription?”“Really, no use at all,” admitted the doctor.“Will an operation help me?”“I’m afraid not, Madame. We have diagnosed you too late....

Nobody likes to be alone…not for Christmas…not ever. There is a deeply felt, absolutely essential core thirst within us for connection. Where does it come from? This drive for being a part of a network of relationships exists within us because WE ARE in a network of relationships. It starts with the Trinity—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit giving and receiving the gift of love among themselves and extending the invitation to us to participate in the divine communion. In that awareness, I real...

“How can I make you happy?” Most days I don’t really know the answer to this question—if you ask my husband he will tell you honestly he has been trying to figure that one out for thirty-plus years! But we both know one thing that consistently makes me happy—a book. As a publicist here at Pauline Books & Media, I am surrounded by books, and am blessed to work with many talented authors. Sometimes, however, God reaches out with his grace and touches me with the words of an author I will ...

Are there days when the problems and the pain are so great you just “check out”? Maybe you go through the motions, even with a smile on your face, but inside you are numb? Perhaps you think, “I don’t want to be (a mother, a doctor, a nurse,  a teacher…) anymore. I could walk out on my job or my family or my friends today and not feel anything…. I’ll stay because I care, but I just don’t have anything left in me to give.” These moments, if we’re honest, have probably come to all of us. ...